Dibs on first MattSly fanfic!
by lil'Ayn
Summary: am i the only hormonally messed up teen who watches PBS?...actually, it wouldn't surprise me. so, the kids&Slider goes to save Radopolis from Hacker, but he catches them. He feeds Matt this strange drug and puts SLider in the same cell to see what happens
1. Popular vs normal

Yes, I know, tons of clichés and dumbed down vocabulary, but this is more of a one shot than an epic novel (hopefully, if I can control it… ^ ^; ) so I'm not going to put too much effort into it and rewrite it twenty times. Sorry.

Sorry, I don't feel like a lot of character or background descriptions, so those of you who've seen the show before, you should know. The others, just use your imagination. (in fact, all of you, use your imaginations. It will look _much_ better that way…)

Sorry for the inconsistencies in the characters from this fic and the original series. They are such generic characters that it's almost impossible to predict what they will say (besides their catch phrases of course)

Found another one: unbelief and disbelief

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...wow, i feel like i'm doing something illegal here...

(POV of Matt)

Dusk was spilling under the shaded garage. The fiery haired boy groaned, the knowledge of time gaining his attention.

"The competition is tomorrow," he despaired aloud. He gazed sorrowfully at the organized montage of wooden planks, springs, pulleys and rope. It worked perfectly, this invention of his, excluding the fact that the entire Rube Goldberg seemed to dismantle itself in one run. The switch was a simple string that slid the lid off a box of marbles when pulled, which, once released, clacked down their separate, encased paths to trigger various reactions in the machine. The difficulty came when a weight dropped and the shock from its landing rocked a precariously-balanced basketball from its vibrating platform and down a wooden plank so that it might knock a hefty piece of literature onto a bag of oil, which would lubricate the course of another object set into motion by a different marble. The ball had been intended to remain at its point-of-contact with the book, but it merely bulldozed over the thing and onto the lower portion of the invention, chaos bouncing jubilantly in its wake.

However, the boy had toiled over this machine for far to long to simply admit defeat. Removing each wrinkle had consumed nearly a week from his life, and one more wasn't going to discourage him. But he had to hurry.

He glanced at the descending pinnacle of luminescence. The Rube Goldberg contest was tomorrow afternoon. If he couldn't find a solution by that time, then all his effort was for not. The boy bent over the assortment of simple machines in concentration.

A shot of static pierced the air and redirected his attention soon after.

"Motherboard!" he yelled, dashing toward the old television set his parents had disregarded in the dumpster of a garage. It was half buried under scraps of other junk, as it had been lazing in that spot since the boy's birth; it was so old, in fact, that its screen would be composed of black and white pictures only, could it actually turn on. Now the sight of Motherboard's colorful image filled the dull grey display.

"Hacker— Radopolis …in danger," she stuttered, the virus previously administered to her by Hacker causing a fickleness in her connection to the Earth child. Short bursts of fuzz disrupted her speech frequently, finding her jumbled meaning in need of an interpreter.

She continued however, struggling against the handicap.

"Find the…—f clovers. Must stop Hacker…"

Her message conveyed, Motherboard opened a portal over her disappearing likeness, the churning, purple tide within waiting gracefully to devour the spectator. But he, being the boy he was, vaulted into the entrance headfirst, elated to embark on another mission for the compassionate ruler of his alternate home—of Cyberspace.

(Wow! Lookit how short the introduction is! Yay for me!)

"Ow," the boy groaned, pinned on his stomach by a life-sized tin-can cybird who had been ejected from the same portal only moments after the human. The bird immediately scrambled off him, obviously embarrassed.

"Sorry about that Matty," he apologized, helping the boy to his feet through form of an extended wing.

"That's ok Dige," replied the orange hair child, brushing dust from his green sweater as he stood. "Motherboard said that Hacker was here," he informed the bird hatefully, glancing around himself to confirm that they were indeed in Radopolis.

The planet held the appearance of Earth, and was similar in every way excluding one. There were incredible ramps sitting on the emerald grass everywhere that had more turns than the ultimate bendy straw and it could rival the Eiffel Tower in height. In addition to that, the most obvious sign was the Radsters, rolling about on their various modes of transportation, attached or not.

"Motherboard told me the same thing," announced Digit, drawing Matt's eyes back to the small bird. "But she blacked out before she could tell me where!"

"Hmm," mumbled Matt, resting his hand under his chin. "She told me, but I could only hear part of it."

"Well, what'd she say?" shouted the tin can, his voice seasoned with anxiety and frustration.

"Something clover." Matt pondered over his own statement, eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. But Digit's brain didn't work like Matt's—he had to think aloud.

"Something clover?" he echoed in genuine confusion. "What does 'something clover' mean?"

"I don't know," admitted Matt. He gave the idea a second's more thought before smacking a fist onto his palm and gesturing excitedly at his companion. "Maybe Jackie or Inez knows!"

The bird's face brightened at this comment. "Yeah!" After all, if Matt had heard more than Digit, then perhaps the girls had received the entire message. His hopefulness dropped, however, when he saw that neither female was accompanying them.

"Hey, where are those guys?"

"Beats me. Let's go look for them," suggested Matt, spinning on his heel in preparation for the search.

But a _shaa-ing_ of grass led him to a halt. When he turned around, Jackie and Inez were following dreamily behind one orange-sweatered Radster- Slider. They were progressing towards the duo, a wave indicating a notice of their presence.

_Oh no_, thought Matt, grimacing at the sight.

"Hi guys!" chirped Inez, leaving Slider and Jackie to run over to the other members of the Cybersquad.

"Hey!" answered Digit. "Where were you? We were just about to look for you."

"Motherboard told us that Hacker was in Radopolis, but when we went through the portal, we ended up on Solaria," explained the bespectacled girl.

Jackie, who had caught up with her friend, decided to interject. "Lucky for us Slider was there and gave us a ride here."

"It was no big deal," commented Slider when both Jackie and Inez looked back to him.

"No, it was very considerate of you," replied Inez, giggling slightly.

"Yeah, Slider. Thank you," added Jackie, joining Inez in her love-struck stare.

It was obvious from the boy's tight smile that having such acute attention lathered on him caused him discomfort, a fact which might have given Matt satisfaction had not all his interest been on the floating girls. His scowl deepened, in face and heart. _What do they see in him?_

"Uh, hello?" growled Matt, flinging his arms to the sides as if his next comment were transparent. "Hacker's out there somewhere destroying Cyberspace and we don't even know where to go to stop him!"

This snagged the attention of the two females, for the moment at least, and they nodded.

"Yeah, Motherboard got disconnected before she could tell us where to go," sighed Jackie.

"She's been having trouble lately. Doc says the virus is getting worse," Digit stated, worry playing in his eyes.

"Poor Motherboard," sympathized the yellow-sweatered girl.

"Maybe that's why the portal took us to Solaria instead of Radopolis," theorized Inez, her hand demonstrating her insight.

"Well, whatever it was, if it's on Radopolis maybe I can help," announced Slider.

"Oh, would you?" smiled Jackie, her voice coated in honey and three octaves higher.

"Sure," the Radster replied, shrugging. "I know this place inside out."

Matt frowned. _Showoff. _But that thought wasn't what threw him into his unsociable mood. No,_ that_ was due to the apparent fact that Slider would now be accompanying the squad for the entire duration of their stay. Hours of wasted time watching the blind girls pour their affections onto this cold, selfish snob would be Matt's fate for the entire mission. What fun.

"Dige, did Motherboard give you any clue about where Hacker is?" Slider inquired, rotating to face the shorter cyborg. The bird, in turn, glanced expectantly to Matt, but the boy merely scowled and crossed his arms disdainfully. Digit sighed and slumped in defeat; Matt was always like this around Slider, which forced Digit into the position of peacemaker. And, in all honesty, Digit would rather have any other job; watching the two was like babysitting two over-energetic siblings, with the exception of the boys' right to free will. It was that free will that sent poor Digit into a coma on his bed at Motherboard's headquarters from exhaustion, hoping God would grant him an eternal night of rest. (NOT suicide, ppl. Get that outta you're head now plz.)

But, as much as he desired to be in that haven of a bed at this very moment, the bird has a duty to the ruler of Cyberchase that took first priority.

He sighed, obliging Slider's innocent inquiry. "No, but she started to tell Matt before she went all fuzzy. Something about clovers, I think."

"Clovers huh?" confirmed Slider, chin tucked behind his fist in thought. Suddenly, "I've got it!" and he was rushing off, retracing the steps that had led him and the girls to Matt and Digit.

Naturally, the girls pursued his bobbing figure. Matt merely pointed after the cyborg however, indifferent to whether he stayed to help or left.

"Uh, where he's going?" he asked Digit, still unable to comprehend Slider's personality.

"Who knows, Matt! Digit! Come on!" shouted Jackie, causing the lingering parties to sprint in her wake.

When all three Earth children had topped their last hill in the pursuit, they spied Slider by his ship, scavenging through boxes scattered carelessly across the grass.

Matt was the first to speak once the Cybersquad had descended the slope.

"What is all this stuff?" The boy gestured towards the heaps of cloth cubes.

"It's mine. I went to Solaria for vacation, remember? Aha!" Slider jerked a section of paper from underneath a bulky green suitcase. "I knew I put it here!"

"What is it Slider?" asked Inez, leaning over his shoulder to inspect it thoroughly.

"It's a map of Radopolis," he replied. As he was tracing the paper with his eyes and finger—"Once, my dad took me to a place called The Cavern of Clovers. He told me that I could never anyone else about it, because there was a bunch of magnetite underground. If Hacker got his hands on it …Here it is." The cyborg lifted the map and pointed to a cartoon mountain scribbled carelessly on the chart. "Mount Pinnu," he announced setting the display onto the grass so the entire team could access it.

"Mount Pinnu? I've never heard of that place before," commented Jackie.

"That's cause the weather up there is really bad. No one ever goes there anymore," the boy explained.

"It doesn't look so bad to me," criticized Matt, glancing in the direction of the mountain in reference to the map. And indeed he found it, a large mountain up to its peak in pale green set in the background.

But Slider merely shook his head. "That's only one side of the mountain," he said. "The other side is much colder." The boy tapped the map as if the mound of dirt would pop up right there on his command to prove his point.

"The Cavern is on the other side of the summit, so we'll have to go around," he informed them, demonstrating the route before scooping up the map and rolling it into a sensible width for pocket storage.

"Couldn't we just go over the mountain?" asked Inez curiously.

"It's too steep; we'd slip," replied Slider, rising to return the strewn boxes to the yellow hover car.

"Too steep?" emphasized Matt in disbelief.

Slider glanced back at him, in the process of heaving a blue suitcase into the brimming trunk. "The slope is at a fifty degree angle."

"So?" raged Matt.

"The car can only handle thirty degrees before the engine dies. And we don't want to be stuck up there at the end of the day." Slider glanced up to the mountain.

The orange haired human grew silent at that reply, unsure of a safe come-back, when Jackie decided to interject her own curiosity. "We're going in this car? But there are only three seats that aren't covered in boxes…"

"Don't worry, my garage is only a few miles from here. We can stop there to drop this off first," assured Slider, patting the mountain of colorful prisms. "You guys use the car. Dige and I will walk, if that's ok," directed the boy, turning to the cybird to check for his approval.

"Sure. We'll meet you there," Digit said in response.

"But Slider, are you sure you can walk that far?" asked Inez.

Jackie joined in. "Yeah, I mean the garage is pretty far from here…"

Matt scowled. Stupid girls; they had never made such a fuss over Matt before! How was Slider any different?

"…and you looked like you were having a lot of trouble walking earlier."

This caught Matt's attention and he felt a twinge of guilt for his envious thought. Suspiciously, he scanned his memory; he hadn't noticed anything unusual about Slider's pace.

"It's fine," the Radster replied. "Just a little sprain."

"What did you do?" questioned Inez, to which the cyborg answered shortly, "Twisted it a few days ago while trying a new stunt. It's almost healed though."

"Still, you should probably stay off it until you are completely recuperated," remarked Inez. "I'll walk with Digit. You can ride in the car."

"That's ok, I'm fi—"

"No, take my seat Slider," offered Jackie. "It might get worse if you keep using it."

"Which is why he should take _my_ seat," hissed Inez warningly to her black-haired gal-friend.

"Or he could take mine," countered the opponent smugly.

Matt sighed. Why did he have to be the peacemaker in all this? It was just cruel.

"I'll walk with Dige. Slider can ride with you in the car," snapped the boy ruefully. He would have preferred monitoring Slider's behavior with _his_ friends, but to watch Inez and Jackie catfight over the other boy was even more depressing than remaining unaware of their actions.

"Guys, I can walk," emphasized Slider, frustrated by the fact that he was being ignored. But the silent approval from both females assured his defeat.

"No, I'll go with Digit," repeated Matt, resigned to his fate, as he shoved Slider into a cushioned seat of the vehicle. The girls were already inside and waiting. "You three go unpack the car. Digit and I will meet you there."

"If you're sure…," lingered Slider before clambering in, pulling away from the two grounded figures and maneuvering the automobile back to the paved road. A cloud of dust exploded behind the bumper as Slider and the girls sped towards the garage.

Left to each other's company, Matt glanced at his metal friend, his irritated mind in a world all its own. Digit, sensing the Earth child's unrest, understood that if they were to reach the garage anytime soon, he would have to take the initiative. Jokingly he held out his wing as if adorning himself with the role of a butler and with a "Shall we?" awoke Matt from his stewing daze.

Reluctantly, the boy forced his legs to push forward, Digit following at his side.

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Now let's see if I can stick with it! i hope i can


	2. Flora Filled Field yay alliteration!

K, yah, I'm a geek. I've accepted that now. And yes, everything has to be in "cyber" measurements. (Even if I can't portray the characters right, at least I can be accurate in that sense.)

Yah, so much for a oneshot. But hey, at least it will be short…right?...hopefully?...haha, not with me writing it...

...ok, yeah, it's been a while, and i'm sorry about that. but hey, i just started college and for the summer courses they give you a huge load of reading! and what makes it worse is that it is boring so it's a slower read...but yeah, i'll keep working on it. chapter 3 is almost done...hopefully...

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"Wow, it's so beautiful up here," sighed Inez, leaning out of the convertible to concentrate on the rapidly passing vegetation.

"And it smells nice too," commented Jackie, breathing in the scent in demonstration. Inez tasted the air as well.

"…I've never smelled anything so sweet before," she exclaimed, and turning to glimpse the driver, asked, "What is it?"

"It's the flowers here. This is the only place they can grow now," responded Slider, not bothering to grant her a glance over his shoulder at her in fear of running the vehicle off the road.

"What do you mean 'now'?" she asked, grasping Matt's chair to haul herself up so that her body hung into the front section of the automobile, where the two boys sat.

"People used to gather them for the party the Radsters throw every year for the king. By the time it was over, the flowers had all picked."

"Oh," muttered Inez, sinking deliberately, mournfully, into her seat.

They rode on for a few minutes, engulfed in a beautiful quiet, until the exasperated Matt finally exploded under the deafening silence.

"Slider, aren't we there yet? We've been driving for hours!" he raged. He couldn't spend another minute in this cramped space, knowing the girls were ogling the boy next to him behind his very back. It disgusted him, and would have throttled Slider already for it had the Radster not been the one keeping the convertible on the perilous dirt path.

"Just a little further," responded Slider patiently, causing Matt's hatred to flare higher. "Look, you can see the top from here." Slider halted the car and directed his company's gaze upwards with a stiff finger; indeed, they could see the curved tip of the colossal dirt mount but a few cybermiles above them.

Impulsive as ever, Matt turned to his nemesis in annoyance. "Why can't we just climb up from here?" It was worth a little legwork to separate himself from Slider for even an hour. Of course, that didn't mean that he could just forget about the boy either; no matter where he went, Matt would have his eye on that jerk.

"Like I said before, it's too steep. It would take a few days to reach the summit on foot. The car is our best bet." When Matt frowned in disagreement, Slider pulled out a map from the jock box and set it on his lap.

"What's that, Slider?" chirped Inez, once again hauling herself to peep over the front seats. Jackie followed in suit. _Anything to do with Slider and the they are drawn in like flies_, thought Matt bitterly.

"It's a topographic map," Slider explained, unfolding the paper. "It shows the different ranges of altitude on a mountain." He pointed to the rings looping around the center of the map. "Here, the lines are closer together because the mountain slopes more towards the top. And here," he slid his finger down to the edge of the image, "is the mountain's base, so they're farther apart."

"Hey!" jumped Jackie. "The rings on the mountain look just like pancakes!"

"Pancakes?" questioned Matt, a quizzical look plastered to his face in surprise.

"Yeah! Whenever my dad makes pancakes, he always messes them up, so one is always smaller than the last one. Then he stacks them on top of one another, so that the smallest is on top! Just like a mountain!" She leaned over the seat and traced from the outer ring to the inner one. "See?"

She turned to her companions in the back.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Digit, now hanging over the back seat as well. "Each ring is like one pancake!"

"And more layers of pancakes are added, the higher the stack gets," added the bespectacled girl.

"Exactly," interrupted Slider. "The same goes for the real mountain."

"So you're saying that here," and Digit pointed at the cluster of lines in the middle, "which has the most rings, is the steepest part of the mountain?"

"But that doesn't show us how high the slope is," debated Matt. "Maybe the base is just wide, so the top seems steeper than it really is."

"Matt's right," declared Slider, pointing to the paper lax in his lap. "These lines don't give us a lot of information. That's why we have to look at the numbers too."

"Numbers?" inquired Inez, leaning forward to glimpse the illusive characters.

Slider held up the paper for her benefit and pointed to tiny characters disturbing the lines about a thumb width apart from the last. "These numbers tell us how far each ring is above the ground. To find the slope, we need to take two consecutive numbers and subtract them." (yeah, yeah, I know. Rise over run, y over x and all that. That's in algebra though- this show is far from algebra. Besides, it's more convenient.)

"Oh, I see," nodded Jackie. "So at the bottom, it is …2 steep."

"Right," agreed Slider.

"And the top is…13 steep?" gasped Inez.

"I don't know about you guys," snapped the blue-skirted girl, "But I am not going to climb up a dirty mountain with a slope of thirteen in these clothes." At this she threw down her arms in order to demonstrate the superior condition of her common garments.

"Not only would it be dirty, we'd have to rest several times before we reach the top, which would waste a lot of time," pondered Inez, her hand holding her chin in consideration.

"Exactly," repeated the driver, cranking the key dangling in the transmission. The engine of the convertible growled to life. "But if we use the car, we will be at the summit in no time."

"And the sooner we get there, the sooner we can stop Hacker," resolved Inez.

"Ok Matty?" added Digit cautiously, as if he were agitating a motion-sensor bomb.

Matt glared hard at the dashboard. "I-I guess," he mumbled. Slider stared at Matt in weariness, obviously glad that the ordeal was over, and, taking the strangled consent as a sign to go, urged the automobile ahead, the road zipping beneath the wheels of the huge machine.

The engine was almost at its maximum after a few minutes, and still the boy applied more pressure to the gas petal, as if to make amends with Matt and shorten the trip as the disgruntled boy had wanted. But Matt merely swung his head away, embarrassed to be showed up twice on the same subject, and with a grimace resolved to ignore Slider's presence for the rest of the trip.

He was almost successful. The entire trip from that point had been in complete calm—the girls occasionally questioning on the landscape or the vegetation, Slider replying in curt, yet wholesome responses, Matt slouching in the yellow seat besides him, several explosions erupting in him every time a female complemented Slider's driving. Still, he only lost his temper once—a record for his book.

It was twenty minutes before Cybersquad and Co. arrived at their destination. It turned out that they would have to endure a few minutes of hiking in the end. They quietly parked the car under a ledge a few feet beneath the summit, so that they could retain their advantage of surprise, and crept along through the dirt.

Of course, because Slider had suggested the trek, neither girl had rejected the idea on the grounds of soiling their clothes. They even sacrificed their precious cleanliness to help him scramble up the mountain side, on account of his "injured leg." Needless to say, the orange-haired boy was the first to peer over the top at the scene established on the plateau of a summit, Slider arriving a full five minutes late with a girl waiting on each arm, dragging him up when he misplaced his footing. Digit lagged far behind them, afraid of getting kicked by the Radster. As they neared Matt could here a faint "I can climb by myself!" followed by a few "It's ok, Slider. We don't mind, really." and "Yeah, we are happy to help."

When the trio and Digit had finally reached Matt (who had waited because he was clueless as to the location of the cavern), they quickly scrambled up to the flat peak and looked around.

"Wow," muttered Jackie.

And Inez—"It's a lot bigger than I thought." They stared in wonderment at the huge jungle lying before them, flowery white and blue and orange plants springing from the dirt, great emerald snakes, dubbed vines, swinging low from each towering pine. Small flora and vibrant birds rested on the back of these vines, causing them to sink until they brushed the spongy earth below.

But Matt would not allow the girls their moment of awe. They had a mission to complete, and the sooner the better.

"Come on," he urged, rising from the rock that had been serving as his seat for the past five minutes. "We can go sight seeing later. First we've got to stop Hacker!" And with that he rushed into the forest. The rest sighed and shrugged to each other, acknowledging the sense in the boy's statement but reluctant to disregard the nature's beauty. But eventually they tossed their pleasure to the wind and ran after him, resigned to their duty. (haha! It rhymes!)

"Matt! Slow down! Please!" called Digit for the fifth time, waving his wing at the green-sweatered boy as if that could magically pull him to a halt.

Matt complied unhappily, stopping and turning around to complain. But the sight before him silenced the anger on his lips; the entire Cybersquad with their hands on their knees, huffing as if they had to get as much air as they could before it all vanished. Even Slider, who could keep a steady pace with Matt if he tried, was struggling for breath, sweat skidding down his face. It gave Matt a twinge of satisfaction, small but gratifying.

They had been running for twenty minutes. Normally Matt's companions would have had enough stamina to continue for that long, but at the rate Matt was going, their stamina had depleted after the first ten minutes. For fear of losing him, they had continued until their lungs simply wouldn't sustain them.

Had Matt actually been worrying about the mission and his teammates, he would have maintained an easier pace. But in all honesty, his faster rate had been spawn from anger and jealousy and frustration, and had given him enough adrenaline to run him to the next cybersite. Without the burden of his friends, he would be able to flee from his hatred and anger. They were just slowing him down; it would have been better if they had left him alone rather than calling him back with them.

Guilt instantly flooded his mind at such thoughts, completely overwhelming his despicable emotions. Even if it was the big finale to his temper tantrum (tantrum = the running), how could he possibly think of his friends like that?

"Sorry, guys" he mumbled, drawing up beside the tin bird and hanging his head, his internal debate still unknown to the others.

"It's ok Matt," sighed Inez. "Just let us rest a bit before you start running again, ok?"

Matt smiled and nodded his consent to these conditions. It was calming to know that even with their Slider-complex, Jackie and Inez and even Digit were still his friends.

Within a few minutes of resting, Matt was satisfied to walk with his friends through the forest—in the far back with Digit of course so that he could easily ignore the girls and Slider and therefore sustain his current pacified mood while still monitoring them.

Within a few minutes Slider, who was leading the party at this time, held out his hand to stop the girls beside him.

"This is it. The Cavern of Clovers," he announced, parting the brush to give the Cybersquad witness to the rocky cave. Matt and his tin pal inched closer to get a better look.

The cavern was jagged, moss crawling up its sides and stalactites dropping from the ceiling, as if descending to impale any intruders. Beyond its ominous teeth, however, was pure blackness, denying any access to curious eyes. It was almost a taunt—_if you __**really**__ want to know what's inside, why don't you come in and find out._

"A…are you sure that's it?" pointed Jackie.

"It seems a little bit…dark," added Inez, struggling to find the words.

"Don't worry," replied Slider. "I came prepared." And he tugged from his backpack (each of them wore one in preparation for the trip) five yellow flashlights and handed them out to each person.

Slowly, they edged forward towards the mouth of the cavern. A few times Matt glanced at Jackie, assuming she would explode with her "No way am I going in there! It's dark and gross and icky. Who knows what kind of bugs are in there, just waiting to touch us with their slimy –!" but amazingly, his expectations were trampled upon. Instead, both girls took to cowering behind Slider, tugging on his shirt for reassurance.

With a start Matt realized that he felt a parallel pulling sensation and glanced down to find a jittery Digit clinging to the coarse fabric of his pant leg. He forced a laughed and with a "Come on Dige. You're not seriously scared are you?" continued after Slider, engulfing himself in darkness as he entered the cave. Digit came dashing in after him, afraid to lose contact with the Earth children.

The cave had a suffocating effect on Digit and the girls, who seemed to cringe into Matt and Slider as if the walls were constricting around them. Even with the flashlights they would squeak fearfully at each sound and jump at every movement in their shadows, prepared to flee for their lives. A few minutes of this fear and then the cybird spotted a pinnacle of light in front of them, a drop of hope in an otherwise gloomy environment. Still, they had to be careful, as Slider reminded them quietly, as they had no clue as to who was creating this illumination.

Slowly they tiptoed towards the glow until they reached what seemed to be like a cave contained inside of a cave. The entrance, however, was higher and smoother in contrast to the previous entrance, and fields of jade sprouted within the confines of the glowing walls.

"Wow," exclaimed Slider, staring at the huge, lonely expanse of green with nostalgia. "It's exactly the same as when me and my dad were here."

"It's amazing!" commented Jackie, pleased she could finally stop to admire the vegetation now that they had reached their destination. She got even more satisfaction when she glanced back to discover Matt and Digit gazing wide-eyed at the secret cavern. Hypocrites.

"How can all of these clovers grow underground?" questioned Inez, kneeling down to finger a green leaf fondly.

"Well," began Slider. But a harsh, sharp voice cut through his speech and his brief happiness, and alarm flashed through the entire squad's brains.

"Magnetite, my dear. Pure, simple magnetite."

Jackie glared at the purple-clad figure disrupting the serene view of emerald green, her voice brimming with hatred and disgust.

"Hacker."

"That's _the_ Hacker to you kiddies," spat the cyborg as his mechanical henchmen came running to his side, their twisted arms supporting two barrels full of the blue mineral.

"Get out of here Hacker," demanded Slider, a finger accusing the villain of his next scheme.

"Yeah, we'll never let you take that magnetite!" shouted Digit, assuming his bravest stance, which at this point was merely a stiff resting position with clenched fists thrown in.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Tie me up with clovers?" the antagonist mocked childishly, and allowed himself a hearty laugh at the end of his poorly crafted joke.

Anger seeped throughout the children, being the brunt of such a bad joke, and they stood there, not trusting themselves to move without attacking the ugly green mug gloating in their faces.

"Give us back the magnetite Hacker, and nobody gets hurt!" commanded Matt, pointing to the substance in demonstration.

"Make me," taunted Hacker again, at which Matt decided to, indeed, force him into handing one over. "Fine then!" he shouted and raced out towards the carts. Slider, reading the other's intentions, darted out after him and took the opposite cart. The boys shoved Buzz and Delete from their positions at the wheelbarrows and charged at full speed with the carts towards the entrance of the secret cavern, not bothering to lament the snapping of clover stems as they fled.

They increased their speed with the ever-so-popular "After them!" screech echoing behind them.

"Let's go!" they shouted as they passed the girls and Digit at the mouth. But their prompting came too late, as Buzz and Delete jumped up and captured the three children, Delete's arms serving as a stiff, cold rope for Jackie and Inez and Buzz literally hugging Digit with his stubby arms to keep him in captivity. The victims' squirming and wiggling were for naught, and only caused the two robots pleasure. Buzz even took the liberty of hissing "You're never going to leave" to his prisoner.

"Oh no!" despaired Matt, glancing back to his friends. He turned to Slider desperately. "We've got to go back."

"First we need to get this magnetite away from Hacker," directed Slider, "And then we can rescue Dige and the others." He turned his head dutifully to the front and continued jogging, obviously frustrated at the choice he was forced to make.

"What if it is too late?" panicked Matt, turning fearfully to glance at his friends, who were now having the honor of being smothered in handcuffs, duct tape, and rope. To Slider's horror, Matt impulsively threw down the dowels of the wheelbarrow and began sprinting towards the cavern. The Radster followed in suit, hoping to catch Matt before he reached the mouth.

"Stop! Matt! They'll capture you too!" he shouted, but the boy ignored his friend's warning. He leaped into the cave vigorously and marched up to Hacker with all the audacity of one of his Greek gods.

"Let them go Hacker!"

"Or what?" sneered the scoundrel, grinning down at the tiny human.

"If you don't,… you'll never see your magnetite again!" he threatened in the spur of the moment, gesturing vaguely to the tunnels that led to the Cavern of Clovers.

Hacker chortled. "Why would I need that, when there's a goldmine of magnetite right beneath my feet?"

Matt frowned. The realization that perhaps this wasn't the most sound of ideas sparked in his mind as he felt the smooth, thin arms of Delete worm around his waist and secure him within their confines. He shouted in protest, squirming for all his worth, until exhausted, he finally gave up and contented himself to glaring vehemently at his green adversary. His only distraction from this task was the signs of struggle behind him—Buzz and Slider.

"Haha! Give it up kiddies!" snickered Hacker, jubilant in his victory despite its lack of importance. "You're no match for my genius! You know the saying: 'Evil always triumphs over good'!" he sang.

"Never Hacker!" yelled Slider from some unknown location in the back. "As long as we're together, we'll stop you no matter what."

"Well then," hissed Hacker, angry at the obvious truth in this statement. "I'll just have to keep you separated won't I?" He whipped up a hand, pointing stiffly to the cave's entrance/exit. "Take the Earth brats to the Wreaker you two," he commanded to his mechanical lacquers. "I'll stay here and get more magnetite." And so Slider and Matt were bound and gagged and thrown onto a wheelbarrow with the rest of the Cybersquad, then rolled through the dark cavern. And despite the helpless situation and the uncomfortable position, Matt found the bumping and rocking of the transportation device to be lulling and in but a few minutes, he was completely solidified in his lax thoughts, the darkness hugging him in a warm blanket as he was shipped off to the prison cell.

* * *

Ok, yeah, the pancake thing was beyond bad. Sorry.

And sorry for anything I got wrong on the topographical map. I haven't taken geography in like 5 years. It's all just sorta leaked out of my brain over time I guess…

You know what, sorry for this entire gosh-dang chapter. There, that should cover everything.

Hey, I'm trying ok?...grr, I hate my inner critics. Won't leave me alone.

Oh, and thanks Noodles for helping me w/ the name!


	3. Duct Tape Mayhem

Ok, here's your update. Enjoy.

Thanks for the support! You guys are the best.

* * *

"What do we do now Buzzy?" Delete sighed, leaning back into his comb-like hands.

"Nothing we can do Deedee, except wait for the Hacker to come back," replied the stout tin head with scrawny appendages jutting from four points on his metallic body.

"Yeah, but," whined the taller robot, straightening, "Don't you think he'll be mad?"

"Nah, he's too busy with his magnetite to pay attention to us." He gazed through the steel bars marring the tiny window above the door's handle. "Don't worry. As long as those kids stay tied up until the boss gets back, we'll be fine."

"But Buzzy," struggled the robot. "What do we do if they do get out?"

"Oh. Heheh, I didn't think about that," muttered Buzz, laughing nervously.

It was a typical Friday on the Wreaker. Hacker was away collecting enough magnetite to last him a decade, and Buzz and Delete had gotten themselves locked within one of the three cells while boarding up the garbage shoot as Hacker had requested a few months ago. The Earth children, cyberturkey, and Slider sat in the sprawled over one another in the wheelbarrow just outside the cell door, in preparation of transportation into the tiny prisons. Needless to say, they were excited at their captors error, but unable to act on that emotion due to their shackles. Matt, currently wedged between Jackie and Slider, was especially frustrated at the irony. Why wouldn't Slider get off? With Buzz and Delete behind their own bars, escape wasn't that far, if only the stupid Raster would get a clue and roll off! He growled and elbowed the boy on his back, trying to mumble over the tape across his mouth.

"Hnn i-uh, gff." (*Hey Slider, get off)

"Mm?" questioned the boy, shifting his weight in a vain attempt to glimpse the speaker's face, as if that would help him decipher the meaning of the strangled plea. But it simply caused him to completely smother Matt's lungs, the pressure from Jackie's back and Slider's chest and shoulder expulsing the air from him.

"Mmh! Gff!" the green-sweatered child panicked, wriggling madly as if he could squirm out from under Slider. The assaulter rolled away instantly, unsure of the cause for emergency, and abruptly plunged from the pile of bodies. His body impacted the floor with a grave "thud", followed within seconds by a muffled scream.

Below Matt, Jackie muttered a small, fearful "I-uh? Uh ong?" (Slider? What's wrong?)

"They're getting away Buzzy! Do something!" cried Delete, the shout drawing his attention to the situation beyond their little cell.

"Umm,…uhhh…let's see here…" sputtered Buzz, frantically glancing every which way to find a means of liberation. If the boss were to find them in here after the Earth brats had already escaped…

Then he located the tools, and his mood brightened. They had been intended to aid in the concealment of the garbage shoot through which the children had escaped last time, but… the shoot was impenetrable now in its steel coverings. Well, at least they still had a crowbar within the mess of tools.

"Here," he shouted, dashing over to retrieve the iron bar. "Use this."

Delete snatched it away from his chubby pal, the terrible fear rushing to his head, and jammed it into the slight crack of freedom between the wall and the heavy door. Both robots grabbed the lever desperately and begun pulling hard, evidence of their desire to live.

"I-uh?"

Matt, his mind echoing Jackie's dread, swung his body until it was in his capacity to roll to the edge of their container and assure Slider's breathing. No matter how much he hated the guy, he didn't want to be considered a murderer. But the sight before him caused him to frown underneath his sticky muzzle.

Slider seemed fine, no sign of injury, despite the fact that he was coated with sweat and his breathing labored. Obviously something was wrong; maybe he landed on something sharp or had whacked something upon impact with the tile floor. Whatever it was, Matt would have to come to the victim's level to do a diagnostic, as Digit's wing was covering half of Slider's body from the spectator's eyes. But Slider would have to move for Matt to be able to roll off without injuring him further.

"I-uh!" he shouted to the best of his ability. Slider glanced over his shoulder at the noise with weary eyes. "Uf!" Matt grunted. (Move) The Radster showed no sign of response, so Matt decided to try again, enunciating this time in an attempt for clarity.

"U-V-F! Nu!" (M-O-VE! Now!) And to further explain the intent, he rocked his bound body a bit as if to sway off the edge. Slider understood and rolled farther from the wheelbarrow, wincing now and then in the pain of his unseen wound, as Matt dropped down to join Slider on the floor with yet another thump.

"Auh?" (Matt?) came a faint call from the pile of bodies above the two boys. "Uh aun-n?" (What happened?)

"What happened Buzzy?" mumbled Delete, his head spinning and tiny fabricated rabbits flitting across his vision as he held his metal head with a tender orange hand.

"The bar broke, that's what!" ranted the other robot, throwing down one ragged end of the metal rod. "We need to find another way out of here."

"We could try using the hammer," Delete suggested lazily, the bunnies whirling with great celerity about his giddy head.

"Stupid, what good will a hammer do? …Unless…," the midget robot pondered, picking the tool up study it. With a start of this foreign thing called inspiration he ran over to the left side of the door, leaping as high as his stunted body would allow at some unattainable goal. Realizing that his handicap wasn't curable, he spun to face his inmate. "Hey, Delete, come over here and help me."

Delete shook his head to clear the frolicking rabbits from his sight and stumbled over to his companion. The waiting robot clambered onto the taller wordlessly, Delete grunting as Buzz's metallic shoes scraped over his face. Finally, once on the android's shoulders, Buzz brandished the hammer and began slamming it onto the higher of the door's two hinges, the totem pole of technology swaying precariously at each movement.

"Heh, we'll be out of here in no time," encouraged Buzz, landing a hard blow onto the golden joint. Delete chuckled in agreement.

_They're coming,_ panicked Matt as the sound of pounding reached his ears. _We have to hurry._ He glanced at Slider's russet back, thinking hard. But his escape plan was becoming scrambled with the nonsensical terror of each "thwang" that resonated through the deserted hall and he began to fear their re-capture. In a rushed helplessness, he scrambled to get to his feet. Perhaps he could accomplish something right-side up instead of on his back like a turtle; but no matter how much he flipped and squirmed, the ropes binding his ankles together prohibited any motion of the sort.

When the orange hair child had temporarily exhausted his energy, he noticed Slider glancing over his shoulder carefully. He had such a serious, challenging expression that the boy felt a twinge of habitual hate, which quickly dissolved into curiosity as Slider wormed his way down to Matt's legs, his eyes continually set on the bindings restricting the whirlwind's movements. Well, at least one of them had a plan.

Seizing the rope's frayed endings, the Radster began to work them within the limited range of movement his handcuffs allowed, grunting in frustration and premonition each time Matt shifted his legs to see if the restraints had loosened yet. Finally, after three unbelievably long minutes, Matt kicked the shackles from his legs and rolled to his knees in triumph. He had to admit. Slider was good to have around sometimes. _Sometimes._

He rose to his feet and glanced around for something with which to break the handcuffs and free the others, wandering into the main control room in his search. There, poised perfectly on the ground amidst the chaos of tool boxes and instruments which the two henchmen had intended to use in the fixing of the cell, was a set of giant shears. Matt grinned victoriously beneath the clingy duct tape and knelt to the ground to begin sawing at the circular restraints clamping his hands behind his back. However, after a few moments, the boy realized that the action would not yield any fruit, as the tool was not properly held within the tool box and kept jiggling out of reach. Sighing, Matt groped for it, his back dangerously close to the sharp instrument, until he latched onto its neck. A loud "bang" from the restless robots startled him and, struggling to rise while distancing the thing from his body, the boy slowly dragged the shears over to Slider's limp figure. It couldn't be helped. He'd have to free the Radster first to save himself and the others.

Matt positioned himself with the shears, grunting a warning at Slider so that he would not move and accidentally impale himself with the object of his liberation. It took a while to successfully slide the chain connecting the two cuffs between the jaws of the tool, but eventually it was accomplished. Just as Matt was about to slam the blades of the shears together, a shuddering "boom" shook the entire ship.

The child glanced fearfully at the cell door, expecting the two metal idiots to come charging out and confiscate his toy. With relief, however, he discovered the slab of metal to remain standing, the clanging continuing on the other side.

But if not that, then what…

"Well well. What do we have here?"

The boy swung around in alarm, his hands strained on the shears' handles, gripping to it as if it were life itself. Nonetheless, a hideous green fist reached out and yanked at the instrument, the blade kissing Slider's lower arm as it tauntingly flew away from the prisoners.

"You know, if I didn't know any better," the newcomer chuckled darkly, "I would say that you two were about to escape." He laughed, but through clenched teeth.

"Uh uhh ooh, A-r!" (Let us go, Hacker!) demanded Matt, the incomprehensible speech becoming lost to the villain's comprehension.

"What's that?" snickered Hacker, holding a hand to his tiny ears. "I can't quite understand you. You'll have to speak up," he coed in mock-pity before shoving Matt onto his back and striding past him arrogantly.

"Buzz! Delete! Where are you!" the villain growled, angered that his instructions had been left un-obeyed.

"Eheh, we're right here boss," mumbled Buzz through the cell's puny window.

"What?" questioned Hacker in surprise as he spun around and strode up to the cell. He peeked curiously in the window. "What are you two duncebuckets doing in there?" But the robots had barely a second to respond before the thick metal door began to tip, crashing down and barely missing the criminal.

The cyborg stared at the door for a few moments, his jaw lax in surprise and dismay, before quickly spinning on his subordinates. "What did you two do to my beautiful cell?"

"Well, eheh, that is…" began Delete, rubbing the back of his paint-can-of-a-head in embarrasement.

"W-we wanted to make sure the Earth brats couldn't escape this time, so we were fixing the shoot like you asked us to…" stuttered Buzz.

"Yeah, a-and then the door closed by itself and trapped us inside!"

"So we tried to get out before the kids escaped…We're sorry boss," apologized Buzz.

"Yeah. Awful sorry," added Delete, nodding vigorously. Hacker merely clasped his face in his hand in a sign of frustration and groaned.

"Nevermind," He dismissed, waving his hand exasperatedly. "Just put those brats in the other two cells." He glanced angrily at the children in the wheelbarrow, their limbs jutting out at random locations, then at the two boys on the ground. When he returned his gaze to the robots, he was surprised to find them sitting in the same position, a dumb look infecting their facial features.

"Now, you useless scraps of metal!" he screeched. The pair immediately rose and with a "Yes!" and "Right away boss," they scrambled to begin loading the escapees back into the cart for transportation. Hacker observed them with the mild interest of a bored supervisor—he knew he had more important things to attend to but he also knew that if he left, his subordinates would literally tear down the place.

The robots wheeled the children, who were currently kicking and moaning threats at their captors, to the cells next door and began heaving the five bodies from their container and one by one shoveling them into the appropriate prisons. When they had completed their task, Hacker ordered the magnetite to be taken to the lab and took his leave, the other two following soon afterwards. The empty halls echoed with their metallic footsteps.

The divisions had been as such: Jackie and Matt in one cell, Digit, Slider and Inez in the other. Of course, had Hacker put any thought into this, he would have realized that in order for the separation of the Cybersquad to complete its intended purpose, he would have needed five cells. However, with all thought dedicated to his latest and greatest scheme for cyberspace domination, he could not be bothered with such trivial planning. As long as the kiddies were kept out of his artificial hair, he was contented. After all, this new plot could rid Hacker of the Earth brats permanently as well as secure the whole of Cyberspace in his palm—two cyberturkeys with one stone. He had no time to predict the small fries' escape.

As it was, they weren't getting very far anyway. Matt and Jackie had managed to break through the bindings, due to the fact that Matt's feet were already undone and Jackie had a hairpin within her mass of dreadlocked hair. Inez, Slider, and Digit could all manage to remove the ropes encompassing their feet through use of Digit's beak, but the handcuff chains were too solid for him to sever. In addition, no one in that penitentiary could speak or devise an escape route for their party thanks to the duct tape. They were stuck staring at blank walls.

"I hope Slider and the others are alright," mumbled Jackie, currently aiding Matt in a thorough search for even the slightest crevasse within their cage. Usually breaking out of one of Hacker's jail cells was a cinch, accomplished within ten minutes at the most; but this time there was no special key/door knob combination that could be used (the door already had a handle), no point of entry open yet just out of reach, no hidden exit beneath the thick paneled wall. Everything was completely sealed off. (first time Buzz and Delete actually did their job correctly.)

"They're fine, Jacks," sighed Matt as calmly as he could muster. He was immensely frustrated with his failed effort, and hearing her obsessively babble on about Slider wasn't something he could endure at this moment. Still, sometimes girls aren't as empathetic as they claim.

"But Slider's hurt! What if he broke his leg, or worse? What if he broke his back! What if he's lying there in the cell, bleeding, and he can't move or call for help? He could be dying and no one would ever—"

"Chill Jacks," the boy moaned, trying not to snap. He deviated from his inspection of the bench to turn and find the black-eyed girl wrapped in her own little frenzy. She was such a drama queen. Of course, that was why she was such a good motivator and an admirable teammate. But when she went off on one of her panic tangents… "He's fine. I saw it myself. There wasn't anything wrong."

"But what if it's internal? What if he had a heart attack or broke his rib cage or—" By now the fangirl had her worried fist almost in her mouth, all the "what if"s bombarding her thoughts and pushing them farther and farther towards the edge of hysteria.

"Jackie! There is nothing wrong with Slider! And even if there was, we couldn't do anything in here!"

"But—" she whimpered, more persistent on this specific topic than any other subject of one of her freak outs.

"Let's just concentrate on escaping right now, ok?" Matt snapped his head back around and resumed his detail-oriented examination of the seat, fury raging in his head.

Slider was fine; why wouldn't she believe him? If it had been Matt whom Jackie was worried about, there was no doubt in the boy's mind that the Radster would have little trouble convincing the female of the orange-haired boy's health. So why, why? Why did they cling to him like that? Why wouldn't they trust Matt, their teammate, as opposed to some stranger that helped them out once in a while?

A small moan and slight sniffle redirected Matt's attention back to his inmate. He sighed, regained his composure and, just for the woman's sake, added softly "Then we can go and rescue Slider."

He twisted ruefully toward her and returned her uplifted smile in as much of its fullness as he felt possible. He hadn't meant to lose his temper again—man, twice in one day. He had to find a way to resolve this; it was endangering the standing he had with his friends.

"Come on," he prompted, standing and offering a hand to the collapsed figure. "The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can rescue the others and stop Hacker." A genuine grin flooded his face at the thought of the overly familiar words, falsely running hatred and remorse from his mind and together the pair proceeded with their search for freedom.

"Boss! We brought the magnetite like you wanted," announced Delete, rolling the pink cart up to the cyborg with Buzz. In all honesty, the room wasn't much different than any of the other rooms occupying the Grim Wreaker; no classified equipment or feature to distinguish the area other than a large "Do not disturb" sign plastered on the door in cyber scotch-tape.

"Excellent," hissed Hacker, in full costume with his necessary lemon decontaminant suit. "Now, behold, my brainless bots, the creation of a potion so malicious, so diabolical, not even Merlin the Magnificent could complete it." {;)} The villain chuckled gleefully and, daintily removing a few handfuls of the glowing rock from its pile, sprinkled the substance into the fluid-filled beaker placed on the table in front of His Awfulness. The robots gathered at the counter's edge expectantly, like children waiting for a firework to explode.

"…Um, boss…nothing's happening," complained Delete, disappointed.

"That's the point, my dear Delete" Hacker giggled, stroking the glass fondly. "It's not supposed to do anything. Yet. Heheheh." (evil laughter)

(hehe, oh the suspense)

* * *

hey, have any of you noticed how Matt is always so dang happy? (in the series I mean) It's starting to bother me; all the lines sound wrong because they don't stay true to his true happy, silent-suffering character…cept in the olympus episode...

Sorry, I was kind of off on the characters in this one. I'm trying to back into the swing of things. Hope s'okay.

And yeah… I was waaaaay off on the duct tape part…but I like it in its own way, so I'm gonna keep it for now.


	4. Search for the Sound

Hey, sorry bout the wait. I had writer's block…heh, and you'll probably be able to tell where…yeah, anyway, sorry about that.

And sorry for the abrupt ending in the last chapter. I could have kept on going, but I wanted to put out a chapter, so I decided to end it there. Just treat 3 and 4 as one long chapter please.

Ok, one more—please remember that all thoughts are in italics. Gracias!

* * *

Inez started up at the bluish-grey ceiling in boredom, tracking shadows of cats and dragons and houses in its reflective pattern with her eyes. It was sad. She, Slider, and Digit were all sitting in a cell while Hacker was off trampling clovers and concocting some horrible magnetite-related scheme that might very well end Cyberspace as they knew it, and yet the only thing on Inez's mind was how impossibly bored she was. Of course, it wasn't as if she had other means to occupy her mind by; the chains repressing her movement had turned her mind stagnant.

Shaking her head stubbornly to clear away the fuzz of lethargy, the bespectacled girl struggled to her feet and began to pace. Usually that was Jackie's signature thinking method, but as Inez was, the headstand remained an impossible phenomena; and she could use any means by which to remain awake. Slider was already up, leaning thoughtfully against the cold, heartless barricade with one leg resting atop the other gingerly, while Digit sat sprawled over the only bench, which was suspended from the wall by two chains protruding from the slab of metal panel behind it. And it seemed to Inez that they were having a similar difficulty in fabricating an escape route.

How could they get out, how could they get out…One thing was certain, the answer wasn't going to just fall into their laps. There didn't seem to be any trick missing in escaping this room (like an absent door handle), and the only window was barred and three times too small. There was a vent, but none of the captives could work it loose with their hands/wings clamped together behind their backs. Nor did they have the luxury of bouncing ideas off one another, with the duct tape still in place. Digit had tried to scrape his off on the bench's edge, but it had been wrapped around his beak as if it were a lobster claw and the tape itself refused to peel, much less unravel.

Slider groaned, his forehead knit tightly together in thought and pain. Earlier, when he had been working to rise to his feet, Inez had noticed that the Radster had purposely kept his weight off his left leg. She glanced worriedly at him. Did he hit his ankle when he fell from the wheelbarrow? Was it the same ankle he had twisted on Solaria?

He was so cool, suffering through the agony like that, but now wasn't the time to be a hero. He should sit down, before he worsened his wound. Inez interrupted her pacing and approached the orange-sweatered child slowly, intent on forcing him onto his butt whether he liked it or not. However a deep-seated, irritated growl erupted from the throat of the boy, causing Inez to pause. Poor Slider. The wound must be worse than she had estimated.

But that thought dissolved from her mind the instant Slider pushed himself away from the wall and backed up a few steps, facing his former support. He dipped each time he used his left leg, but bore it steadily. _What is he…?_

The teenager positioned himself and sprung towards their confinement, dashing at the layered panels and screaming through the sharp throbbing. He threw his body to the hard sheets of metal and landed heavily on them, the wind jolted from his lungs therefore silencing the shouting. A giant metallic boom echoed in the small cube, followed by a universal stillness.

"What was that?" Hacker snapped, looking around suspiciously, his green chin whistling as it sliced the air. He leaned over his concoction protectively, searching for the source of the sound.

"What was what boss?" chirped Delete innocently.

"I thought I heard something…," the cyborg muttered.

"I didn't hear anything," offered Buzz, to which Delete added, "Yah, me neither."

"Hmm…"

Slider moaned and gasped through the tape, trying to regain his breath on the cool surface. Inez stared at him in confused horror. What was he doing? Had he gone mad? She gazed into his bleary eyes uncertainly. ...No—not Slider. But what was he thinking?

Slider broke eye contact after a few minutes and slowly backed away from the wall in a slow, torturous gait, as if drunk with exhaustion.

"I-uh…," (Slider…) mumbled Inez from inside her throat. She sighed in relief. He was heading toward the Digit, towards the bench, to rest. Perhaps the outburst had been just that—a desperate act of frustration.

They were utterly hopeless after all. No way to get out, no way to stop Hacker, no way to save Motherboard. This had never really happened before; sure, they've had their share of difficult situations, and yet there was always an escape. They just had to try for it; use a little brain power and they were free. But now each Cybersquad member was isolated just as Hacker had wanted, unable to work together in their scarce cocoons of tape and handcuffs. That which had always been their strongpoint, teamwork, had been stolen from them—completely paralyzing the entire group.

That was her first priority, to find a way to remove the handcuffs. After all, if that was the cause of the problem, then there had to be a way to solve it. There always was. If she just calmed down and thought rationally about it, she could overcome this burden of steel swallowing her wrists.

Slider, though, seemed to disagree. To Inez's shock, the boy spun around to face the wall once he had reached the midpoint of the room. With great celerity and a muffled, rallying shout, he charged the wall again, rebounding his body from the panels with much greater intensity. And no sooner had his sneakers tapped the blued, tiled floor than he was throwing his body back at the barricade, a sickening "whap" confirming his determination for each repeated motion.

Digit immediately leapt to his feet in surprise, while Inez tried to stop the rampaging cyborg, but the duct tape made it impossible for him to understand their words. Physically restraint was also out of the range of possibilities due to their shackles and the fact that neither were willing to sacrifice their bodies as pillows despite their love for the brown-haired child. So they just stood idly by, confused and worried, as Slider bruised his body against the chilling, unrelenting steel plating.

-Wham-

-Wham-

"Matt," ordered Jackie, ignoring the corner she had been assigned to investigate. "Stop daydreaming! We've got to hurry and get out of here!"

"Ok ok," muttered Matt, diverting his gaze from the dented wall. It seemed those bangs were making them both jittery. What was happening over there?

"I knew I heard something," grinned Hacker triumphantly. Spinning to his lacquers, he commanded, "Buzz, Delete, go find out what's making that miserable banging noise and report back to me immediately."

"But boss," whined Delete. Hacker, however, was too absorbed in his diabolic genius to exercise patience with the robot birdbrain.

"What is it?" he hissed.

"You never told us what that potion thingy does," complained the taller robot, pointing sadly to the glass beaker in demonstration.

"You, you want to know what it does?" questioned Hacker, his voice octaves higher and his hands clasped over his puffed chest in mock sympathy. Delete bought into the charade as usual, nodding enthusiastically with Buzz.

"Well then, I'll tell you… _after you go and take care of that racket!_" the villain screeched angrily, watching the bots scramble hastily towards the door.

Once the two eyesores had fled his sight, he turned his undivided attention back to the bubbling creation and, purring to it, inserted a wooden spoon and began to stir. The magnetite that had accumulated in chunky, glowing hunks at the bottom were swept up by the implement and assimilated into the rest of the clear liquid. And as he swirled the utensil around, the criminal began to hum happily.

"'Go take care of that racket' he says," mimicked Delete begrudgingly, trudging down the hall with his best friend at his side.

"Huh, easy for him to say," protested Buzz. "How are we supposed to find one itsy bitsy sound? This place is full of 'em!"

"It could be coming from anywhere!" despaired the other, his combs raking the air in aggravation. "At this rate we'll never find out what the Boss wants that potion for!"

"Well, we gotta start somewhere," sighed the elder as he waddled across the tiled floor to open a door for his metallic friend. "Let's check in this room first."

But Delete refused to force optimism into his depressed mindset and continued through the entrance, dragging his painted boots and drooping his antenna and shoulders. "Ok," he sighed, his voice highly pitched with the disappointment.

-Wham-

"Matt!" shouted Jackie, irritably glaring at him from her position on the bench.

"What?" The boy turned around, distracted from his task by the potent mother-figure.

"Stop!" the black-haired girl shrieked. "It's driving me insane!"

"But what if they're trying to contact us?" complained the boy, resuming his task.

"And who would try to communicate by slamming their body against a wall?"

"Inez, Digit and Slider, that's who," explained Matt nonchalantly, pausing in his wall banging to respond. "Besides, it's louder this way."

Jackie sighed and crossed her arms in annoyance. The backpacked boy took one glance at her posture and groaned inwardly.

She glowered at him, demanding, "And what makes you think that they're the ones slamming themselves into the wall?"

"Well, think about it Jacks. Buzz and Delete put them into the cell next to this one, so there's no one else it could be."

"Hmf." The girl swung her head away in denial, causing Matt to frown. What was her problem? His answer was logical enough.

"There's no way Slider would be that stupid," she stated spitefully.

The prisoner gritted his teeth. Not again. Oh dear lord, not again! What was the problem with these lovesick preteen girls? Just how perfect was this glorified image of Slider that only they could see? How could they just blindly be led around by the nose for that jerk? It was moronic, sickening in fact.

Slowly, the backpacked boy shuffled over to sit by Jackie on the frozen bench, thoughts buzzing around his head in an angry torrent. She watched him with mild interest until the child had seated himself, at which both turned to face the now concave wall.

As long as Matt wasn't up there throwing his body against the wall; as long as he was quiet, she was appeased.

And so silence ensued.

"Buzzy, where are you?" The whiny voice of Delete struck up from the darkness and crept sharply to Buzz's antenna.

"Flip the switch stupid!" came the reply, followed by a boisterous clanging.

Delete nodded and felt around blindly, panicked. Three. He felt three knobs beneath his combs; which one was it? "T-this one?" he questioned, flipping without an answer.

The fanatical scream that trailed his decision had Delete raking his "hands" against every object protruding from the wall as if Death were lurking in the blackness beside him. When he finally snapped the correct switch into place, in his friend's last known position lay a gigantic trap door, its jaws agape in anticipation for more victims.

"Oops," chuckled Delete nervously, journeying to the edge of the mouth to locate his companion heaped onto the floor below like a pile of scrap metal. "Sorry."

Buzz just glared at his partner. Maybe he should simply search the rooms himself—that way he might emerge from this exertion unscathed. Then again, two is always better than one.

"Get down here," he growled, causing the taller robot to hop through the door down to Buzz's level. Well, almost.*

"Hey, Buzzy," murmured the younger companion, after standing a minute in astute attention.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you think that the sound has gotten… louder?" Delete glanced down at the other for confirmation.

"Hey, now that you mention it…" The two borgs began to wander toward the banging, speeding up their pace in excitement as they reached the source. It wasn't long until they were booking it down the large, empty halls of the Grim Reeker. Louder, louder, louder still—they were getting close.

"What's so great about Slider?"

"Huh?" Jackie wheeled around to face Matt in surprise. How could he ask such a thing? Matt sighed and decided to rephrase his question so that he may elicit his due response. It wasn't that he wanted it, but he was tired of pondering the issue. Nervously, the boy rubbed the back of his neck as he questioned away.

"I mean, whenever he's around, you and Inez always make such a big fuss over him. Why do you like _him_ so much?" Matt glanced away, a certain, mysterious embarrassment invading him, adding to the sense of self-deficiency he had previously.

The woman, as empathetic as ever, ignored the implication of Slider versus Matt and began to blush, gazing at the floor. The toe of her shoe traced eccentric squiggles on the echoing floor.

"Slider's…you know…w-well he's handsome, a-and kind, and—," she began, growing redder the more she continued.

Matt almost scoffed. Kind? _Handsome_? Well, it was true that he could be useful at times, but his treatment of the girls didn't differ from Matt's method. The only difference was that Inez and Jackie would let Slider get away with more than Matt was allowed. And handsome? Sure, his appearance held a more "mature" air, but that could be accredited to his two years seniority to the pair of eleven-year-olds—four years in Inez's case. Wait, was that it? That two year difference between him and the Radster, was that the impurity that stunted him in comparison to Slider in the eyes of his friends? Was that really the reason the girls favored the brown-haired boy? Just because he was older?

"—always helped out when we needed it and…Matt?" The boy glanced up quickly, embarrassed to be caught spacing out. But almost instantaneously another emotion welled up in his mind and flooded his thoughts. Anger; dejection. He would never catch up. Even if all that separated him and Slider were a few years, as long as he lived the cyborg would always be better than him. Matt couldn't catch up no matter what he did. He was doomed to be the third wheel…well, technically the fourth, but it's the same general concept.

Heatedly he rose from his seat and stalked back to his post, muttering "Nevermind. Sorry I asked" under his breath. Jackie remained seated, confused, until Matt began ramming his body into the caving wall again. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting so weird? And why…why did he look like he was about to cry?

* * *

Yeah, ok, crappy emotional ending. Crappy short update too. sorry. Hopefully the next update'll be faster, ok? Again, sorry. (I feel really bad about it)

Oh, thanks for comments by the way! I got lots this time! You guys are awesome.

* (for those of you who didn't get it, think differences in height)


	5. ok, notice overkinda

ok, so i'm back now. Just to let you know. And i _am_ working on it...kinda. I have creative writing class, so i'm trying to juggle my own stories and my fanfiction, so updates may be a bit slower, if that's even possible, but they will be there. Here, ok. I'll try to release an update every other weekend. Give me a few weekends to get all the rest of my homework out of the way, and then i'll update every other weekend.

Again, thanks for your forced understanding! And again, thanks for the reviews! Sorry if i haven't replied to you yet-i'll get right on that.

~ayne


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